Rod Timanus

"Ezekiel Flagg returns to the sleepy southwest Texas town of Rio Bonita where he once served as Town Marshal. He befriends and brings along with him the new Town Doctor and they find his former Deputy now occupies the position of Marshal that Zeke once held. Zeke hires on as a guard for a local rancher, and one of his hired hands, who will be traveling with a large sum of money. Seeking shelter from a storm in a small church they discover a detachment of Mexican soldiers who have crossed the border in pursuit of a gang of banditos who are now hiding out in and terrorizing a small village of farmers. To avoid an international incident the travelers agree to help the soldiers capture the banditos and their evil leader known as the Machete and get back across the border before they are discovered on American soil."

The native people, known today as the Sinagua, inhabited the Verde Valley of Arizona for centuries. From around 700 AD to early 1400 AD, they farmed the land and built large pueblo communities throughout the area. They accomplished this task using only primitive stone tools, materials from their environment, and the strength of their intellect and muscle. One of the largest communal dwellings, and later the most extensively excavated, is called Tuzigoot. This sprawling, hilltop complex contained over 100 rooms and was once home to several hundred people before it was mysteriously abandoned. Excavated and partially restored between 1933 and 1934, Tuzigoot is currently administered by the National Park Service after being designated a national monument by Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939. Today, although off the beaten track, it hosts more than 100,000 visitors a year.